Raw iron or dynamic data centre

Reader Study We hear a lot about the self-service data centre, where everything is highly automated and virtualised with dynamic provisioning allowing seamless deployment, management and billing.

This is a nice vision, and one we should be working to achieve, but just how realistic is it in today’s environment? We know from previous studies that joined-up systems management is a challenge, with fragmentation of tools and a lot of human effort required.

We also think that while parts of the data centre are likely to be shiny and new and capable of running virtualised systems and applications very nicely, there will still be a significant amount of older kit that may be standing in the way.

As part of this discussion, we're hearing from readers of the importance of commodity kit, particularly x86 based servers, that form a big part of the legacy but can also be used as the foundation for flexible scale out architectures.

And it is here that we would like your help with our latest survey looking at x86 server computing in the context of meeting day to day business and operational needs as well as all of that new fangled sexy cloud stuff.

So, if you want to take part in our latest reality check, get clicking with your responses here. ®